Toward Magneto-optical Cooling of $^7$Li

Laser cooling, the standard approach for producing ultra-cold atoms for the past thirty years, has reached saturation in the number of ultra-cold atoms produced per second and atomic density. We report the development of an alternative method for producing ultra-cold atoms and predict that it will far-surpass laser cooling. Our approach is based on magnetic deceleration of supersonic beams. Once the atoms are brought to rest in the lab frame, we will use internal-state optical pumping and magnetic field gradients to further cool and compress the atomic cloud. This talk will discuss progress toward the physical implementation of these methods with $^7$Li atoms.